Leadership
Madison on TV: August 1814
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the slick trailer just posted for a new TV documentary on Madison’s flight from Washington in August 1814, one jump ahead of British troops victorious from the Battle of Bladensburg. After fleeing across the Potomac and spending the night in Virginia, Madison made his way to Brookeville, Maryland to try…
Read MoreWhat's so bad about saying you were wrong?
I recently became fed up with the media reports about the presidential candidates and their “flip-flopping” on various issues. For the rest of us, changing our mind is often described as learning, or even considering a matter more deeply. For politicians, we have made it a sign of weakness, weak-mindedness, or craven pursuit of political advantage. Don’t get…
Read MoreDanger: Constitutional Convention Ahead?
I’ve got a piece today in the Baltimore Sun, warning of the dangers of a second constitutional convention, which a shocking number of state legislatures are proposing willy-nilly. They need to stop and think. James Madison fought every proposal for a second constitutional convention, warning that it could be the scene of all manner of mischief. He…
Read MoreBooks and (Semi) Mass Media
Having published my book on James Madison last month (Madison’s Gift), I share one trait with most authors of a recently-released book: A wistful desire that great chunks of the reading public will exercise their right to pay a modest sum to own my book. This desire to sell books makes authors willing to undergo…
Read MoreNew "Hamilton" Show in NYC: HipHop Hooray!
Nah, I don’t listen to hiphop. Not ever. But Lin-Manuel Miranda is building a beautiful bridge between that music and old farts like me with his new “Hamilton” musical, which has opened for previews at the Public Theatre in New York. I caught the show last night with the Girl of My Dreams, and was…
Read MoreThe Emerging Indian Colossus
A 10-day visit to India this month kindled thoughts about a part of the world I have known only through novels and Merchant/Ivory movies. The ambitions and dreams of the place are huge. Indian newspapers speculate avidly about a second Indian mission to Mars. (Did you even know about the first one, completed just two…
Read MoreFive Books on Impeachment
The conservative-inspired “Impeach Obama” campaign will wax and wane over the next two political years, a weird residue of the benighted effort to impeach President Bill Clinton fifteen years ago. Even though the Impeach Clinton effort failed somewhat ignominiously, it has empowered true believers of the Left and Right to think of impeachment as an…
Read MoreWWI: Who was the enemy?
As the World War I centennial continues to gear up, and as I slouch to the end of my novel on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, I have stumbled upon the most remarkable French memoir of the war — Poilu. (Thanks to Andy Dayton for recommending it.) Louis Barthas was a barrelmaker in the…
Read MoreFear of the Shallows
Looking back over the year just ended, I am struck by the proliferation of door-stopper books. This phenomenon — which afflicted both fiction and non-fiction — emerged in many of the most celebrated books which logged impressive sales numbers. To cite just a few: Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, a novel checking in at 784 pages. In biography, The…
Read More"The Lincoln Deception" on Audible.com
Audible.com has finally listed the audiobook version of The Lincoln Deception, narrated by L.J. Ganser. I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, and listen to them all the time in the car, even on very short trips to the market or the gym. Right now I’m near the end of the audio version of Bernard Cornwell’s 1356, a chronicle of…
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